Among the pop, chips, bread and milk at Rolf’s Groceries in Rocky Mountain House are rows of brightly painted Nutcracker figurines standing smartly at attention.
More than 300 of the jaunty decorations line the convenience store’s shelves and display windows, providing a colourful burst of holiday spirit to customers entering the shop.
Store owner Rolf Bergman’s Christmas-themed decor includes typical nutcrackers painted as Prussian soldiers. But there are also much rarer specimens, such as a sparkly Irish leprechaun, an armour-clad knight, a golfer, hockey player and skier.
There’s even a nutcracker dressed as a pirate, with a wooden parrot perched on his shoulder.
For a guy who’s only recently seen The Nutcracker ballet, Bergman can’t explain exactly how he became passionate about collecting these festive figurines about four or five years ago.
He believes his thing for nutcrackers comes down to a couple of basic facts — they are easy enough to find, and are a more unusual seasonal decoration than decking his store out in garlands and bows.
“I like to decorate my store, and I kind of wanted to go for a theme,” said Bergman, who’s never ordered a single nutcracker over the Internet, but has found plenty in his usual travels between Edmonton and Calgary.
“When I found the first nutcracker, I thought it was a good choice. It was very colourful and it was something people wouldn’t see in a store every day.”
He believes his customers get a charge out of seeing so many different kinds of nutcrackers, which measure from six cm to over a metre in height.
Bergman said people also seem to appreciate the extra effort it takes staff to festoon his store with nutcrackers and his store windows with Christmas trees and train displays.
“People seem to really enjoy them,” added the merchant, who’s always loved Christmas and clearly possesses the dogged drive of a collector.
When the nutcrackers are out of season, Bergman replaces them with his extensive collection of antique cans and tins. “The rest of the year, collectors’ cans are on the shelves. When the cans come down, the nutcrackers go up.”
He estimates it takes store staff about two days to bring all the wooden soldiers out of storage, and three days to pack them away in boxes again. “For some reason it always takes longer to put them away . . . ”
Central Albertans have a few more days to visit the nutcrackers at Rolf’s Groceries at 5337-59th Ave. Bergman said the decorations will be displayed until just after New Year’s Day. The store is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Rocky Mountain House’s two well-known Christmas attractions will also be open for a few more days. Cheryl and Alfred von Hollen’s house lights up the night with 110,000 lights and 85 inflatables at 5725 57th St. Close. The von Hollen display is open for viewing until today. Just down the road Sheryl and Duane Iceton’s display boasts 80,000 lights on trees at their property at Secondary Hwy 598 in the McNutt subdivision. The Iceton display will welcome visitors until Saturday.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com